


When you knew

by AvengersCompound (emilyevanston)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Conversations, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Iron Man Bingo 2019, Late Night Conversations, Love, Romance, Sexuality, memory sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 08:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/AvengersCompound
Summary: As you try to fight sleep you ask Pepper about her past.A/N:  @iron-man-bingo fill ‘memory sharing’





	When you knew

You lay back against her, relaxing as she gently stroked your brow.  The tip of her finger tracing up the bridge of your nose and between your eyebrows, arcing over your forehead before returning to your nose again.

Your eyelids were getting heavy.  It was such a soothing motion that it was relaxing you to the point of a stupor.  You hummed sleepily looking up into the blue of her eyes as she looked down at you.  Her red hair falling down around her face in sheets.

“Where did you get the nickname, Pepper?”  You asked trying to focus on her.

She smiled and shook her head lazily.  “That depends on who I’m talking to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  You asked, becoming a little more alert.

“Well,”  She said her fingers moving from your brow down your cheek and along the line of your jaw.  “Some people think it’s because I have freckles.”

“What is it really?”  I ask.

“When I went for the job with Stark Industry, they threatened to have me escorted off the premises and I told them I’d pepper spray them if they tried.  Tony liked it and hired me on the spot.”

Your jaw dropped and you sat straight up.  “Did you have pepper spray?”

“No,”  She said.  “But I’m good, and they wouldn’t see me.  I felt a little desperate.”

You started laughing and settled back on her lap.  “You’re crazy.”

“You knew that.”  She said and leaned over kissing you softly.

Her fingers resumed the lazy trail over your brow.  “Tell more something else I don’t know.”  You said.

“Hmm… what do you want to know?”  Pepper asked.

“What about… what it was like having extremis in you.”  You said.  You obviously had heard a little about it.  You knew what it was called for example.  And that it nearly killed her.  But you also knew it had given her powers.  That she’d saved Tony Stark’s life using it.

“It was scary.  I was hot but also it felt like I needed that heat.  It was strange and I don’t even think I can describe that feeling.   But the power… it was both terrifying and it felt good.  It felt good being that strong and that dangerous.”  She shuddered.  “I liked it and that alone was scary.  I don’t think I could do what the Avengers do.  I think I’d enjoy it too much.”

You leaned up and kissed her pulse point under her jaw.  “You’re kind of a badass you know?”

She smiled and raised one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at you.  “Yes, I know.”

You laughed and rolled on your side burying your face in her stomach as you hugged her.  She rubbed your neck and leaned down and kissed your head as you nuzzled into her.

You rolled back onto your back and looked up at her.  “How about you tell me one?”  She said.

“Okay.”  You agreed, nipping at her finger as it moved towards your mouth.

“When did you know you were into women?”  You asked.

You pulled a face.  “I’m not sure.  There was a teacher I liked a little too much.”

“Oh, really?”  Pepper teased.  “Little teacher’s pet were you?”

“I mean, yes.  It wasn’t like anything happened or anything.  She was just really beautiful and really smart and looking back now I know I had a crush on her.”  You explained.   “But I’m not sure there was a wake-up moment for me exactly.  It was just gradual.  When I was older, I think seventeen, I was hanging out with a friend and we just got really cuddly and it felt good.  We started kissing and I knew that was right for me.”

“That’s a nice way to find out.”  She said with a soft smile.

“Mmm…”  You hummed.  “What about you?  When was you bisexual awakening?”

Pepper started laughing and she leaned back against the couch.  “I think it was watching ‘The Fifth Element’.”

“Milla Jovovich.”   You hummed.  “Multipass.  Oh yeah.  I can see that.”

“Say that again.”  She said.

“What?”  You asked.  “Multipass.”

She smiled and closed her eyes for a moment before leaning down and kissing you gently.  Her lips only just grazing over yours, making you want more.  Need it.  When she pulled away you chased her lips, aching for the kiss to deepen.

“I remember watching that movie and just being so attracted to Leeloo.  She was so innocent and so badass and so incredibly sexy.  That’s when I realized that maybe it wasn’t just about men for me.”  She said as her fingers resumed their path over your brow.

You hummed happily your eyelids growing heavy once more.  “Tell me about when you first were interested in me.”

She laughed softly.  “Oh, that’s easy.  Tony and I had been broken up for a few weeks.  I decided to go out with some friends to drink.  I really needed to drink.  We went to a club instead of just a bar.  I think my friends thought I could just find someone to take home and clear my pallet of him.  I didn’t want to do that.  I didn’t think I was ready for that.  I’d invested a lot in the relationship with him and I was still just really hurting.  I first saw you dancing with a few other girls.  Not sexual, just enjoying yourselves…”

“Well, that’s because those were my friends.”  You interrupted.

She chuckled.  “I know, I remember.”  She said poking you in the stomach.  “You seemed so happy compared to how I felt.  I remember thinking it would be nice to even just touch on that.”

“Aww… but you turned me down that night.”  You said.

“Mm-hmm…”  Pepper hummed.  “That was the moment.  I was at the bar alone while my friend’s danced.  Just nursing a drink.  You came up beside me and while you tried to get the bartender’s attention we talked.  It was flirty but not pushy.  You said I looked sad and asked if I wanted to come dance with you and your friends.  Not just you.  You weren’t trying to make me feel uncomfortable.  You just wanted me not to be alone.”

“Well you did look very sad, Pep.  I don’t think you would have let that woman be sad alone.”

“I was very sad.  My heart was broken.”  She said and kissed your brow.  “When I said no, that I just wanted to drink.  You asked me if I wanted to talk about it.  I said it was a boring story.  It was just about a boy.  So you said that I shouldn’t let people rush me and you paid for my drink and went back to your friends.  Right then I regretted saying no to you.  I was like; that is someone I wish I knew better.”

“Aww… Pepper.”  You said and leaned up and kissed her.  She cradled your head as her lips moved against yours.  Your tongue flicks out and dances over the corner of her mouth.  You pulled back and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.   “Tell me when you knew I was the one.”

Pepper traced a finger from your brow and along your cheek.  “That’s a little harder.  It’s been gradual.  But I guess it was the day you met Tony?”

You raised your eyebrows.  “What?  Why?”

“Well, he’s my ex and he’s rich and famous.  And he dominates conversations.  And he is Iron Man.”  She said.  “I could see so many potential ways that could have gone.  Jealousy.  Possessiveness.  You could have been intimidated by him.  You could have just been straight up nasty to him.  Starstruck.  Shy.   But you weren’t any of those things.  You trusted that we were still friends and that I could handle myself.  You held your own.  You were nice to him.  You didn’t poke at the open wound that is him seeing that I moved on.  You are so kind.  I knew then that if I could pick any traits for a partner it was someone who trusted me and is kind and that is you.   That’s when I knew.”

You smiled and settled back on her lap.  “I love you, Pepper.”

She hummed and booped your nose.  “I love you too, honey.  We should go to bed.  You look like you’re trying to fight off going to sleep.”

You yawned and nodded your head.  “I just like listening to you.”

Pepper leaned down and kissed you softly.  “You know what?  I love being heard.”


End file.
